Multicast groups enable several users of, e.g., wireless computers (colloquially referred to as “hosts”) to access the same Internet video simultaneously with each other. Users must send messages to join multicast groups to receive the desired group packets, and provision must be made to eliminate certain messages to users who leave multicast groups. One example protocol for attending to these chores is known as Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP).
The above processes depend on identifying servers of multicast packets and network switches between the servers and the users. As understood herein, when virtual machines are employed as the servers and when the servers connect to the network using virtual switches, such recognition does not necessarily occur, resulting in flooding messages to nodes that do not need them and potentially failing to deliver messages to nodes that should receive them.